Preston Sprinkle is a New Testament scholar, author and speaker, and in Embodied he combines story, science and scripture to explore the intersection of sexuality, gender and faith. With a comfortable cadence, Sprinkle explores the complex relationship between the theology and science of gender with a particular focus on transgender identities. Both the conservative and…
Nine-year-old Brenda lives with her father and grandmother in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Brenda’s mother died when she was young so Gran takes care of her while her father goes out to work. Brenda thrives in that loving environment characterized by nutritious meals, healthy expectations, financial stability and Sunday worship. For a school project about someone…
Dear reader: The end is in sight. Still, we’re not quite there yet. Dreaming of this pandemic’s end is a big help in getting though the fatigue and frustration of its latter days. Of course, that’s not the only helpful thing at our disposal. In this month’s review section, we thought it’d be great to…
What’s getting me through is Harmonize the Moon, a new album from Montreal songwriter Michael Feuerstack. Feuerstack has refined his trade through a catalogue of excellent albums with an expanding set of musical tools (even two records’ worth of other people singing his songs), but the pandemic has reduced his sonic palette to the essentials:…
In March 2020, right as the pandemic was starting to take root in Canada, I was diagnosed with a complication in my pregnancy that required me to be on bed rest until delivery. Kindly, a friend of mine loaned me his Nintendo Switch with the instruction to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I’ve never considered…
Rose and I never watched much television except for The National and Hockey Night in Canada. During Covid, Adrienne and Andrew dropped to second place; we can almost lip sync their nightly reports of Covid’s horror. Hockey Night vanished entirely. Who can watch hockey without roaring crowds? Amazon Prime Video’s Midsomer Murders supplanted all else,…
I recently read the 3-volume graphic novel March by the late civil rights giant and long-serving congressman from Georgia, John Lewis. While in seminary, Lewis helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which spearheaded many iconic moments of the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s. March follows the story of Lewis’ years of activism…
Since December, I have been caught up in the Chief Inspector Gamache series by Canadian author Louise Penny. Of the sixteen titles in the series, I have completed ten so far. In the spirit of full disclosure, my reading order was dictated solely by their availability at my public library, whether in audiobook, hardcover, or…
Nifty grabbers, buckets, garbage bags, earbuds. These are the items we take with us as we clean up the green spaces in our neighbourhood. A year ago, inspired by a friend, we began this action as a way to get outdoors and do something useful. A year later we are still at it and have…
Based on the life of Clarence Brazier, born August 28, 1906, in a log farmhouse near Magnetawan, Ontario, this compassionate, informative children’s picture book relates how “for nearly one hundred years, Clarence had a big secret.” The third of seven children, Clarence and his family worked hard to survive. Big for his age, Clarence readily…
There’s an excitement when we get to enter another world, and this has been particularly true for me in these latter pandemic days. I have been able to enjoy other worlds by watching fun foreign films.They’ve helped keep life fresh and interesting! If this coping mechanism interests you, I recommend a 2011 French film called…
When South African documentary filmmaker Craig Foster fell into a personal Slough of Despond, he came close to drowning emotionally and mentally. Netflix’s 85-minute My Octopus Teacher records his year-long recovery with daily baptisms in the eight-degree Centigrade sea off Cape Town. There he discovered he was not alone. As baptism declares, he died to…
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